New Delhi, Feb 21: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, during his meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain in Muscat earlier this week, had conveyed that it is important that Bangladesh should not normalise terrorism, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed on Friday.
The EAM had held a series of meetings with his counterparts from the neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat, on February 16. While Jaishankar mentioned that the conversation with the Foreign Affairs Advisor of the Interim Government in Dhaka was focused on bilateral relationship, as also on BIMSTEC, the Bangladeshi side stated that Hossain highlighted the importance of holding the meeting of SAARC Standing Committee and urged the Indian government to consider the matter.
“Regarding whether SAARC came up for discussion or not… Yes, the matter was brought up by the Bangladesh side when the EAM met with Bangladesh’s Foreign Advisor in Muscat. It was acknowledged that everyone in South Asia is aware of which country and what activities are responsible for stymying SAARC. EM conveyed that it is important for Bangladesh not to normalise terrorism,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi during a media briefing.
EAM Jaishankar and Hossain had last met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September, marking the first high-level engagement between India and Bangladesh’s interim government after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August 2024.
The Bangladeshi media had also reported after the meeting that during their meeting, which lasted less than half an hour, EAM Jaishankar and Hossain emphasised the importance of working to overcome the challenges that have arisen in the current context of bilateral relations and also discussed “the topic of organising” a meeting between the Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit to be held in Bangkok, later this year.
The 6th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit is scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from April 2-4, later this year. Bangladesh will take as the next chair of BIMSTEC at the summit. Even though India continues to bat for the normalisation of relations between the two neighbouring countries, the current regime in Dhaka has faced massive criticism for making groundless accusations and also targeting minorities, especially the Hindu community in Bangladesh, since the dramatic fall of Hasina’s Awami League government, last year.
In December, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Dhaka, conveying New Delhi’s concerns, especially those related to the safety and welfare of minorities in Bangladesh, to the top leadership of the interim government.
IANS